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The International Pfaff Convention is almost here! Convention is a time for dealers from all over the world to gather in one space for a few days, eat together, laugh together and learn all about what is new and happening in the wonderful world of Pfaff!

Fashions shows, food and booze will abound as we learn about where the company is heading over the next year. We will get to hang out with educators, the corporate types and see a glimpse of new embroidery designs that will be released and new machines that are coming out. New notions and do dads and feet will be put on display for us to get excited about before they even reach the store. Dealers will be given a chance to try out new techniques and see dazzling and awe inspiring samples that will be used in marketing materials and really get our creative juices flowing so when we head back home we will be ready to carry all that new information to our customers. It really is very exciting and fun.

Typically convention will move around the country giving us a chance to get out of our stores and check out the local sights and restaurants in our down time. Years past Linda and I have gone to Arizona where we spent an afternoon riding around the desert in a Hummer while a tour guide taught us all about the local plant life and showing us the wonders of desert!

Linda and I posing for a photo next to the awesome Hummer that took us through the desert in Arizona. That was a great time!

We've also been to Denver, the mile high city, where we got to see a huge quilt show that just so happened to be going on the same week we were there in the capital building. And since I had a friend who happened to be living out there at the time I got to take a ride out to Pike's Peak and then a tour through the "Garden of the Gods" where I got to see all kinds of rock formations and geological wonders. Then there was the year we were sent out to San Francisco, where we spent an afternoon touring Ghirardelli Square, Del Monte Square and even hung out with hippies down at the corner of Haight and Ashbury. That same Colorado friend had moved to San Fran by that time so again we were treated to tours and cuisine by one of the locals. Dallas was an interesting year. The hotel that convention was supposed to be held in wasn't done being built so last minute arrangements had to be made with another hotel and while we were staying right near where JFK had been shot and got to take the tours of book depository and listen to audio recordings and watch the original footage of that fateful day, there really wasn't too much else in the immediate area. But San Antonio was by far the most beautiful convention spot we have been to. The Riverwalk was breathtaking! And I highly suggest that if you ever get the chance to go out there and see it, please do. There was food, there was laughter, there was a really cool mall and there was just so much to see and do. We never stopped, not even for a moment and had a great time our entire trip!

And that brings us to this week: A booked trip to beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be the first time Pfaff Convention will be near the Strip in almost 14 years. And this will be my first time to Vegas ever. I've already got tickets booked to see a show and our hotel is looking like there is plenty to do without needing to wander far. Although we will be about a mile off the strip, since we are heading out two days before convention kicks off (amazingly enough air fare was that much cheaper to go out two days ahead that even with the additional nights in the hotel it's working out to be much more affordable!), I am looking forward to lights and the fountains and the sights that the Vegas strip has to offer.

And while the location has always changed, there is one thing that every single convention has in common... I have to get on a plane to get there. Here's a fun fact: I am scared to death of flying. I mean absolutely out of my mind horrified. I hate going through security. I'm constantly running though the list of things that I have on me, hoping the whole time that security doesn't take anything from me or ban me from getting on the plane because of some weird security loop hole that every passenger who's last name that has the letter "P" somewhere in it is banned from every flying. I hate sitting around in the gate area waiting to get on the plane. I'm constantly afraid I'm going to lose my boarding pass. Or my license. Or my shoes. Or my mind. I hate trying to find my seat, worried that some whack job is going to sit next to me and try to hold some kind of conversation with me that I have no interest in. And what if I have to use the bathroom while on the plane? So that means I have to make sure to hit the bathroom every 5 minutes before we actually board the plane to make sure every last drop is drained from bladder because the thought of taking that seat belt off leaves me having a panic attack. And then there's the take off. I don't even want to discuss the take off. One time, Chris and I were heading out to Ohio for two weeks of training with Pfaff. As the plane was driving around getting ready to get in line to take off I started screaming at the top of my lungs about how the plane was going to fall over and burst into flames and we were all going to die!!!! I seriously almost got us thrown off that flight.

I don't know what happens when I get to an airport, I just go bananas. It's like the air in there is somehow different and my brain just goes into total chaos mode and refuses to filter out even the most absurd thoughts! So what's a girl to do when she's excited to go to convention and having a full on panic attack about the actual travel there? That's right, I called my doctor. I explained in the office that I don't care which doctor I see in the group, I just need the one who has their prescription pad handiest! Whichever doctor will prescribe me all of the medications that they are legally, ethically & morally allowed to prescribe me, that's the doc for me!

So Monday morning I will have to sit in my doctors office and explain my situation, beg for all the drugs that the pharmacy has in stock and then try not to cry between now and when I finally get on that plane. Because I have to tell you, the only plane ride I've ever enjoyed is the one that I don't even remember!! They tell me I was pretty calm and docile. I'll have to take their word on it!

For now it's back to making lists, crossing things off and making more lists and I get ready to leave my kids for a few days and really immerse myself in the wonderful world of Pfaff!!

Remember to leave me a few encouraging words in the comments, keep an eye out for my posts while I'm out there and subscribe to my blog so you never miss out on the silliness that is life at the store!

Happy Sewing!,

Erin

The lights! The look of Pfaff Conventions years past!

A picture of some of the samples that were up one year, this was the introduction of a new embroidery design set and new patterns that Pfaff was carrying at the time.

This dressed was used in many of the marketing materials for the creative sensation when it was launched a few years back. The dress was stunning in the photos and even more so in person. You just took one look at it and wanted to run home, make one, buy a huge house and throw a huge ball just so you had an excuse to wear it!